Insect-destroying apparatus.



APPLIQATION FILED MAR. 28. 1911.

Patented Apr. 2, 1912.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO INVENTOR ATTORNEYS mLL'MBIA DUNOGIIAPM 00., wAsmNn'roN. n. I:

DAVID C. MCCROSKEY, OF YAZOO CITY, MISSISSIPPI.

INSECT-DESTROYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 2, 1912.

Application filed March 28, 1911. Serial No. 617,359.

To all whom it may 0011 cam:

Be it known that 1, DAVID C. MoC/aosum', a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Yazoo City, in the county of Yazoo and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and Improved Insect-Destroying Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention is a fumigating apparatus designed for the purpose of destroying insects and other pests which thrive among growing grain and damage the crops; and. it comprises novel means for generatii'ig and distributing fumes in places where the grain is grown.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which the same characters of reference indicate the same parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a furnace or fume producer mounted upon a hand-cart so that it can be drawn through the fields wherein such pests are found. in order to make the fumes which it generates. available in the immediate neighborhood of the pests, to destroy them; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. is a section on the line of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrow: and Fig. l is a section on the line 4lt of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow.

My improved furnace or fume producer consists of a casing l, which has a flaring mouth at the front end thereof, indicated by the numeral 2. In the opposite end is a pair of stacks or flues 3 which are preferably turned to the rear to discharge the fumes or gases generated in the furnace l. to the grain which is affected.

4 is a sliding door which closes up the front end of the furnace or casing 1, adjacent the base of the flaring mouth 2. This door slides in vertical guides 53, and passes through an elongated opening in the top of the furnace, and it carries along its upper edge a handle 6, so that the door can be raised and lowered.

7 are apertures in the lower end of the door 4, to admit air to pass into the body of the furnace 1 through the g 'ate thereof.

The furnace or casing 1 also contains a removable grate S, which is spaced from the bottom and supported by means of strips 9 arranged along the sides of the furnace 1,

a vertical longitudinal partition 10 dividing the space beneath the grate into two longitudinal compartments. The fuel, mixed with the materials which produce the pestdestroying fumes, is placed upon the top of the grate 8 and ignited, and the air, as the furnace moves forward, passes in through the apertures 7 under the grate 8, and through the openings therethrough to the burning materials on the top of the grate 8.

I prefer the vcrtically-slidable door shown at f on the drawings, with the apertures 7 adjacent the lower edge, because this form of gate permits a free draft into the casing 1, beneath the grate 8, and through the same when the gate is raised to the position shown in Fig. 2, without materially augmenting the draft through the casing above the grate. This is because the major portion of the surface of the gate 4 is imperforatc, and when this gate is raised to allow a free draft under the grate 8, only such air as is permitted by the apertures 7 will pass through the casing 1 above the fire and the fume-generating ingredients which are mixed with the fuel. This is an important result, because, if too much air were allowed to pass into the easing above the grate 8, some of the fumegcnerating substances might be blown out through the flue 3, without first undergoing the necessary changes through combustion to produce the insecticidal gases needed.

The top of the furnace or casing 1 is closed by a sliding door 11, the edges of which fit in guide strips 12 along the sides of the door 11.

13 is a handle, by means of which the door is moved, and whenever it is desired to place a charge, with fuel mixed with the substances which generate the fumes, upon the grate S, the door 11 is withdrawn so as to uncover the openings and allow the grate to be loaded.

In practice, the furnace is placed upon a vehicle of any convenient size and shape and drawn through the grain field between the rows of grain, the flaring mouth 2 facing forward. The air passing in under the grate supplies the necessary draft, and the fumes generated in the process of combustion, pass outward through the fines 3 and destroy any insects in the vicinity. A ground slide will serve as well as a vehicle for this purpose.

14 are handles placed on the side of the casing, through which chains can be passed to hold the casing 1 in place upon the vehicle or slide, when the apparatus is in use.

The material which I prefer to burn in the grate 8 is a mixture consisting of six parts of sulfur, two parts of stove coal, one part of charcoal, one part of black coke that is obtained from the stills in which crude petroleum is treated, and two parts of pulverized red pepper. These proportions are preserved for every one hundred pounds of mixture, and the coal, charcoal, coke and sulfur will burn readily. The fumes of the sulfur and pepper mixed with the gases of combustion from the other constituents of the mixture are very effective for the object which I wish to accomplish.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Insect destroying apparatus comprising a furnace or fume producer having a flaring front end, a slidable gate closing said front end, said gate having apertures adjacent the bottom thereof, a grate supported above the bottom of said furnace to support a charge of combustible mixture containing ingredients which generate the fumes, a vertical partition beneath said grate, a s1ide-controlled opening in the top of the producer, and a pair of discharge flues arranged adjacent the rear of the producer to discharge the fumes over the vegetation affected.

2. An insect-destroying apparatus comprising a furnace or fume producer having an opening in one end, a slidable gate closing said opening, said gate having apertures adjacent the bottom thereof, a grate supported above the bottom of said opening to support a charge of combustible mixture containing ingredients Which generate fumes, means located beneath said grate for dividing the space therebetween and the bottom of the furnace into a plurality of 1ongitudinal compartments, said furnace having an opening in its top to charge the same and means for closing said opening, and discharge means communicating with said producer to discharge the fumes generated over the vegetation affected.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID C. McCROSKEY.

Witnesses B. CRIsLER, M. C. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

